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Man gets 30 years for 2012 killing in Duluth

DULUTH -- A Two Harbors man was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison for the stabbing death of a Duluth man in 2012.

Raymond Charles Weeks, 42, had reached a plea deal earlier in State District Court.

Kevin Tyman died Dec. 21, 2012, after a single stab wound to his abdomen resulted in the laceration of his liver.

It was nearly a year later, Nov. 14, 2013, before Weeks and Joella Lee Tucker, 33, were taken into custody on warrants for second-degree murder.

On Thursday, Judge Shaun Floerke accepted Weeks’ plea deal. Weeks pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder charge in March. The agreement called for a guideline sentence of 30 years, and the prosecution agreed not to seek first-degree murder charges.

Authorities allege that Tucker commissioned Weeks’ help to kill Tyman, her former landlord, whom she had accused of sexually assaulting her sister. Police said they were alerted to a possible sexual assault but were unable to interview the woman or substantiate the report.

Tucker pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree murder in March and will be sentenced next week.

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